Shane Bond believes his return to international cricket has been a relatively smooth one.

The 34-year-old fast bowler spent two years in the international wilderness after joining the rebel Indian Cricket League.

But he cut ties with that competition earlier this year which paved the way for his New Zealand comeback and he has been pleased with his performances for New Zealand A in India and more recently for the senior New Zealand side in the Champions Trophy, although he admitted the intensity of the cricket surprised him at first.

"The jump is massive and even from the time I've been out, the game's jumped up another couple of levels with the advent of Twenty20 and some of the shot-making and stuff.

"The pace of the game is huge, but I felt that I slipped back in pretty comfortably.

"It was fun and it's probably as relaxed as I've been. It was still a bit up and down, in terms of performance sometimes, but you've got to expect that."

New Zealand lost to Australia by six wickets in the Champions Trophy final in Centurion on Monday but Bond was satisfied with the team's effort, particularly given key players such as Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Daryl Tuffey and Daniel Vettori had been ruled out at various stages in the tournament through injury.

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"To make the final of a tournament like that was a real career highlight," he told The Press. "It was disappointing not to win but I really enjoyed the occasion and, in terms of all the injuries we had, to make it and turn it into a competitive game was a hell of an effort.

"Even though the victory seemed comfortable enough for Aussie, I think we gave them a pretty good run and that will do wonders for our confidence."

The Black Caps' next assignment is the series against Pakistan that was postponed earlier this year following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore.

The one-day series takes place in Abu Dhabi next month and is followed by two Twenty20 matches in Dubai before a Test series in New Zealand immediately afterwards.

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